bit about this remarkable detail that you're going to have in your special report tonight. witnesses saying that men on board were pushing women and children out of the way trying to get to the lifeboats. >> reporter: absolutely. we got several people speaking with video that's never been seen on tv before that does really put you on board the costa concordia that night. some of the things they describe as they try to get off are pretty horrifying. they saw the worst of human nature some people told us. people, men shoving women and children out of the way in an effort to get into life rafts. they also say they saw the best in human nature for people trying to do their best. the violinist tried to save as many kids as he could. he ended up dying because of his

efforts to save children. >> i'm really looking forward to this piece tonight. thanks so much. a reminder to our viewers that your special runs tonight. it's cnn presents cruise to disaster. 8:00 eastern time. some exclusive new images and details. make sure you tune in. top of the hour now. i'm ashleigh banfield. i'm standing in for brooke baldwin. this is one of the hottest 4th of julys on record. it is steaming out there. extreme heat paralyzing much of the midwest and all the way up to the dakotas too. the heat index racing up into the 115s. the death toll from the heat and related storms now reaching 20. the virginias, in particular, having a terrible time. in some cases police are having

to hand out ice. hundreds of thousands of people who have not had power since friday since a wave of violent storms hit pretty much at their wits end. lizzie has been following this story. there's a critical problem. west virginia hit the worst and they are talking about water now. water, a serious problem for a lot of people there. >> this is something a lot of people don't think about in the first wave of coverage of a storm. you tend to hear about power loss, but you have a lot of water systems that are running on electricity. a lot of people don't think about that being something that they need to think about. if you've been through a hurricane, you get the advice, fill up your bathtub and a lot of that is so you can use that water to restore water pressure to a toilet if you have lost your electricity. we have some numbers from west virginia. about a third of the state gets their water and people are reporting water service loss,

low pressure. they are getting boil water advisories because when they have that low pressure the water sits in the pipe. bacteria can get in. brian todd is seeing a lot of folks storing water for dripging water and daily use. about 20% of the state'sulati population isn't connected to water service. they use wells. these are the problems people are facing several days into the power outages as well as the heat that you've been talking about because you think first about the lights and then people start to think about water. you can go without right, but you can't go without water. >> you can go as well, for the most part, without fan or ac but that can also be lethal. you mention the boil water advisory. that's fine and dandy but how do you boil the water if you don't have the power which leads to the piling on.

you're five days and you're still saying three or four. can federal regulators get in here and make a difference? >> it's very hard on federal level. they really only control the big electrical transmission lines. everything else is governed by state. there's a slightly different relationship. we are starting to see them take over the last couple of years. folks out in west virginia say the power companies are doing all they can. they are doing a good job. i talked to the top regulator in maryland. they arie looking closely at th power companies in maryland. they fined pepco for power outages in 2010 saying you didn't have a good storm plan and bad maintenance. in connecticut, the attorney general is going after the power company for bad storm planning in hurricane irene and the

nor'easter. you're starting to see a slightly more aggressive tactic. you can't pass the rate raise onto your customers. often times if they go back and look at what happened and then see if they will pursue penalties. >> i know pepco has been taking it on the chin. on this holiday more americans are hitting the road. it's the highest number of people taking off in the car or the suv or the whatever else you roll with. why is it? the national average gas price is not too shabby. $3. $3.33. it's up a wee bit. david is live in atlanta for us. give us the rundown on why people are choosing the road over skies.

>> reporter: well, everything's down a little bit over last year. when you fill up your tank you can save a couple of dollars per tankful. that's not a lot. that's not very dramatic. prior to this holiday there were 78 straight days where gas prices went down and people started to make the decision there's not going to be any better time to hit the road. more americans in more cars are traveling more miles this 4th of july holiday. lower gas prices is one of the big reasons why. aaa estimated more than 42 million americans are on the move during their time off. the most since 2007. eight out of ten are hitting the highway. >> this year we've seen the highest volume of vehicle travel for the 4th of july holiday period in over a decade. >> reporter: nationally, prices for regular fell to $3 a gallon in alabama and $3.74 in california.

there's a feeling of get it while you can. prices average about 24 cents a gallon less than last year, but 60 cents more than in 2010. already there are signs this consumer roller coaster is on the climb again maybe up 10 to 15 cents more on average. a range of $3.25 through 3.50 through the summer. >> reporter: the price of oil jumped more than 4%, the highest since may. we've gone up one cent to two cents a gallon across the country in the last 24 hours. the people on the road right now probably made the right decision to make that long trip and buy that gas for this holiday. >> thank you very much. do appreciate it. coming up next, see what it looks like to fight a fire from really close up an personal. normally you're told to stay away from fire, but cnn invited

along with firefighters as they went home by home to battle this monster. that's coming up. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] you've been years in the making. and there are many years ahead. join the millions of members who've chosen an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. go long. ♪ ♪

♪ [ male announcer ] what's the point of an epa estimated 42 miles per gallon if the miles aren't interesting? the lexus ct hybrid. this is the pursuit of perfection. the lexus ct hybrid. how did the nba become the hottest league on the planet? by building on the cisco intelligent network they're able to serve up live video, and instant replays, creating fans from berlin to beijing. what can we help you build? nice shot kid. the nba around the world built by the only company that could. cisco.

i tell mike what i can spend. i do my best to make that work. we're driving safely. and sue saved money on brakes. now that's personal pricing. we have been reporting the waldo canyon fire in colorado springs has claimed the title as the state's most destructive wildfire ever. the fire has crept to the edge of the air force ackacademy in that state. it erupted back on june 23rd. we're getting better news. we're hearing more about containment, but i've also heard, this is like the tiger in the cage with the door open.

is it still that bad? >> reporter: 80% containment and that's a phenomenal number. as bad as this fire got, they are ahead of their containment schedule. they got a little rain yesterday. everybody was glad for that. with these long term dry drought conditions, not only is there chance that this fire especially on its north end could kick up again, but we could get new fires happening. there's a possibility we could get rain to alter that. it's been such a dry season here that we have seen so many wildfires start almost on a daily basis. definitely not out of the woods yet. for today, they are celebrating 4th of july. thankful that they have 80% containment and no homes immediately in danger from this fire. >> jim, tell me, please tell me that there is a ban on fireworks in that state given what that state has just gone through.

>> reporter: ban on fireworks, campfires, pretty much any kind of fire you cannot have in the state of colorado. this is cancelled a lot of events. you would have big fireworks sho shows. all of that has been cancelled. a lot of people still out of their homes are staying with friends and even in hotels are forming little makeshift barbecues and parties like that. also, today being that people are not working today and a holiday, it's the first chance this town has had to exhale. there's definitely a since that today is the first day that everyone can relax and maybe take stock that even though a lot of homes were lost and two people died, it could have been a lot worse. there's a sense of quiet gratitude that have replaced the big celebrations. >> i think that's the way to put it. the quiet gratitude.

nopefully the people know the rest of their fellow americans are thinking about them and praying for them. thank you. happy fourth to you. the name has been an attention grabber. the god particle. i'm sure you've heard of it, but do you have any idea what it means? the pictures are great. it sounds awesome. it sounds like this should be the top story of the century. what does it really mean, and does it answer the question, how did we get here any way? we have the best source to explain this to you coming up after the break. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550

ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about the cookie-cutter retirement advice ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 you get at some places. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 they say you have to do this, have that, invest here ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 you know what? ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 you can't create a retirement plan based on ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 a predetermined script. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 to understand you and your goals... ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 ...so together we can find real-life answers for your ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 real-life retirement. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 talk to chuck ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 and let's write a script based on your life story. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550

it's not every day that you see a whole bunch of scientists

standing up with champagne bottles and cheering, but today is no ordinary day. take a look at that scene just a couple hours ago in switzerland. what's all the excitement about? discovery of a little particle. a subatomic particle like be th one you're seeing. consider this. if this is what the scientists think it is, it could change everything. it could change everything we know about the world much like the discovery of the nucleus. produced everything much of what we know at this point. we have enlisted the help of a

physicist professor. i think a loot of people are trying to make sense of what the particle means and what does it mean to the question of how did we get here? can you break this down? >> there's a reason why physicists are dancing around their atom smashers. they spent a lot of years searching for this. we whence when we hear the words. the bible said that god said let there be light and there was a universe. physicists say there was a big bang, an explosion, but what was the match. what was the fuse? what was the spark that lit the big bang? we're clueless. we didn't know. we think that -- >> back up. the higgs is what. explain it. >> we're celebrating the fact that we have found a new

particle never seen before in mother nature by slamming two beans of protons and this particle was a particle like this was the fuse that set off the explosion which created the universe so that everything we see around us, the galaxy, the planets, earth, life itself is a by-product of an explosion which was set off by a higgs like particle. >> this made a little bit of sense to me as i was trying to make sense of it today. the higgs field broke to uniform symmetry giving everything we know mass and making the universe possible. >> we think that originally the universe was a gas with no mass at all. think of a crystal. it exploded and the shattering of this crystal gave us all the

masses and the particles today. the explosion of the particle broke giving us the broken world we see today of planets, stars, galaxi galaxies, you, me, even love. >> it's still very complex. i know you break out into the implications of science as well. this is the beginning of a very, very big conversation, isn't it? this isn't just science. this is how science may disprove religion because you said you cringe when you hear god particle. is that where we may be headed with this? >> even more than that. realize that the higgs boson takes us to the beginning of

creation itself. if it's expanding, there could be other soap bubbles out there. other universes. this is where the next step beyond the collider comes in. we're going to look for evidences of a pre-big bang universe and then we have the question that everyone asks me, is elvis presley still alive in another parallel universe? maybe. weaver talking about going before the beginning itself. this is deep. it has philosophical implications as we talk about a universe, a parallel universe co-existing with ours. the machine in geneva is the key to proving the existence of these other dimensions. >> it's the machine where you

said this smashing occurred. >> that's right. >> isn't that dangerous? i don't know your job but doesn't that hold potential for more disaster? >> not at all. it's a pea shooter. cosmic rays hit the earth every second just as energetic as our most powerful beams of proton on the planet earth. mother nature in outer space, in the milky way galaxy does it all the time. we're still here. >> we are. you and i need an hour to go over this more because while i understand the larger concept, i'm having a really tough time understanding the subatomic concept and how that does create the larger concept. for anybody that doesn't know about your book it's awesome. physics of the future. go get it now.

it's great to see you th. thank you for that. you made english of it. it's the largest 10k race in the world. more than 60,000 people competing. you see the one second from the left, that's susan malvo. man who decided he loved that road race so much, he took it with him even when he went to war. i kid you not. >> hi. i want to wish my husband and my son a happy independence day.

male spirit present.trong it's the priceline negotiator. >>what?

>>sorry. he wants you to know about priceline's new express deals. it's a faster way to get a great hotel deal without bidding. pick one with a pool, a gym, a great guest rating. >>and save big. >>thanks negotiator. wherever you are. ya, no. he's over here. >>in the refrigerator? here at the hutchison household. but one dark stormy evening... there were two things i could tell: she needed a good meal and a good family. so we gave her what our other cats love, purina cat chow complete. it's the best because it has something for all of our cats! and after a couple of weeks she was healthy, happy, and definitely part of the family. we're so lucky that lucy picked us. [ female announcer ] purina cat chow complete. always there for you. in atlanta, the 4th of july

would not be complete without the peach tree road race. if you have not heard of this. take a look at your screen. that's just 60,000 people going for a run. 60,000 people from all over the world running in the largest 10k event this morning despite how hot and humid it is. it's a 40-year-old tradition. one retired army general was so into this race he could not bear to leave it behind when he was sent overseas into the war zone, and so he took it with him. >> i first started running the race back in 1980. i just left active duty and needed something to keep me in shape. i sat that first goal for the peach tree in 1980. once i ran the first one i was hooked. i joke around that my goal is to

run the peach tree every year until i'm 80. i've received orders and deployed to kuwait back in 2004. my string of peach trees was in jeopardy. dploo my driver and i mapped out a course and on the morning of july 4th, i ran it. >> three, two, one and begin. >> for us over in the combat zone, we're fighting for the liberties that we all hold dear. it was a piece of america back on july 4th and a piece of atlanta. we're in the middle of a desert in a combat zone halfway around the world at 95 degrees, at 5

c5:00 a.m. in the mornings. the atlanta track club was great. she sent a thousands shirts and banners. it's very special. i'm a very patriotic person. that's why i am very involved with this. also, the atlanta track club is just super in this support now for eight years of these overseas races to let our service members have a little piece of america on july 4th in a combat zone halfway around the world. coming up, he believes his widow was poisoned, and now she wants to prove it. she's not just any he. he is the palestinian leader arafat. the mystery behind his death.

hear what scientists have found on his toothbrush and clothing. findings that might lead to his body being exhumed. and cheddar bay biscuits then choose one of 7 entrees plus dessert! four perfect courses, just $14.99. come into red lobster and sea food differently. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] you've been years in the making. and there are many years ahead. join the millions of members who've chosen an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. go long. metamucil uses super hard working psyllium fiber, which gels to remove unsexy waste and reduce cholesterol. taking psyllium fiber won't make you a model but you should feel a little more super.

metamucil. down with cholesterol.

today real bomb shell coming out of the middle east. tests conducted into the death of arafat reveals he may not have died from natural causes.

he may have been poisoned. there's testing of his clothing and some of his personal effects that suggest this might have happened. how credible is this? how serious is it? >> reporter: well, the simple answer is we don't know yet. the lab found normal traces of this material on his toothbrush and clothing. his widow asked them to test. the researchers are very careful to note that this doesn't mean that arafat was poisoned. the symptoms he showed just before his death in the paris hospital and going through the medical records are not consistent with the kind of symptoms you would see. >> those symptoms, his bone

marrow was not depleted. he didn't lose his hair. >> reporter: that's right. >> while that's inconsistent, they're taking it serious enough and his family wants his body exhumed. is that likely to happen? >> reporter: yes, it's likely to happen. his widow talked to cnn earlier today and said she hasn't officially put in a request but plans to do so and the plo of palestinian officials says the their president is insistent to find out what happened and they are going to cooperate. as soon as they get some official request from his widow, they are prepared to exhume his body and calling for an international investigation. if you remember the death of the former lebanese prime minister, they're pointing to those investigations. they say arafat was no ordinary

man and considered the father of the palestinian people, and they want to know what happened to him. >> it's a fascinating story. i think you'll be getting more of it. thanks very much. reporting live. what we're about to show you now is very graphic and it's very difficult to watch. i want to give you this warning in case you have kids near the tv. it's probably a good idea to ask them to move away or leave the room. some video out of syria. two little boys believed to have been killed in their sleep. a bomb hitting their home in the middle of the night. we had to blur their faces because it truly is just too gruesome. they are just little brothers. they're about seven or eight years old. you can see water bottles sort of lying body their bodies. they are frozen water bottles because that's really the only way to preserve their bodies. the morgues are too full.

this is their burial service. during this burial we can hear man at one point reading a poem and saying, quote, they slaughters us and then they came to my child. my baby. they that's referring to syria president assad and his forces . they are believed to be responsible for the slaughter of thousands of people. cnn cannot confirm this video or any of the others because syria limits journalists from entering the country. it's very hard to look at these tiny little bodies, two little brothers, and see anything other than indiscriminate slaughter. the total dead is about 14,000 and that includes men, women and little children like those two little brothers. the story is not over. just 24 hours ago we were

telling you about terrible torture. a report out of syria from human rights watch releasing sketches that showed different torture methods used on syrian detainees by the government, by the syrian forces. torture including prolonged beatings, burning with acid and evening sexual assault. these are sketches, but we now have video allegedly showing one of these beatings. again, warning goes out to you now. this one even more graphic than the video we just showed you. have a look. what you are seeing right now, this is believed to be assad's syrian government forces violently beating this man who has already, as you can see from the marks on his body, gone through a blistering beating.

his body is thoroughly bruised. he is being hit with electrical cords. they are stumping on his back and on his body. it's the kind of video that you would assume syria would not want leaked because it makes the syrians look terrible. it makes the government forces look like animals. here is what is bizarre. apparently they do want the videos out because it's a scare and intimidation process for people who oppose them. they are saying things in this video like is this the freedom that you want and they force the prisoner to say that assad is their god. we don't when that video was taken or where because syria is off limits to us. very, very difficult to get in to report on what's going on there. we think at cnn it's crucial

that you see it and know how bad it's gotten in that country. you know, i have done something worthwhile. when i earned my doctorate through university of phoenix, that pride, that was on my face. i am jocelyn taylor. i'm committed to making a difference in people's lives, and i am a phoenix. visit phoenix.edu to find the program that's right for you. enroll now.

[ male announcer ] even if you think you can live with your old mattress why not talk to one of the six million people who've switched to the most highly recommended bed in america? it's not a sealy, a simmons, or a serta. did you know there's a tempur-pedic for everybody? tempur-pedic beds now come in soft, firm, and everything in between. these are real tempur-pedic owners. tempur-pedic brand owners are more satisfied than owners of any traditional mattress brand. and now through july 8th is the perfect time to buy. save up to $200 during our mattress set savings event

and up to $600 on tempur-cloud supreme. also get 0% apr financing with up to 5 years to pay on qualified purchases. to learn more, visit tempurpedic.com. don't wait -- 5-year special financing mattress set savings event and tempur-cloud supreme savings end july 8th. tempur-pedic -- the most highly recommended bed in america. breaking news in to cnn. montreal canada police have told cnn that a human head that was found in a park on monday does belong to this man. he was the concordia university student who was murdered and dismembered more than four weeks ago. the suspect in this murder, a

29-year-old porn star, who is being held in montreal by police after being captured in berlin last month. you may remember this story because most of lin's body parts had been mailed out, hands and feet mailed out to the conservative party and the prime minister of canada. the liberal party, a school in the province of british kwlum ya. those parts had been found but police have told cnn in weeks prior that his head was still missing. at least now the family has some closure. that case is going to be massive in the canadian courts. this is the frightening side of super stardom, obsessed fans. the victim this time, usher. somehow a woman he doesn't know was able to get beyond a security gate and able to get

beyond guards and able to get beyond his own security team right to his front door. abc news has this report. they have a 911 call from usher asking the police to come to his home. >> she came to my house earlier today. once anyone realized this was not a woman who anyone knew, she was asked to leave the house. >> why is this an on the case case? joey jackson with me now. not so much for the stalking element but for how the stalking element is playing into his custody case. >> exactly. >> what is happening? >> it's in the best interest of the child to have parent who cares and love and supports them. what the wife wants to do is say this puts my children two boys in danger. one four, one three. she is claiming that if a stalker can ultimately go up and

knock on the door, then how much in danger are my children and if they are, should the court take that into account in chmaking a child custody determination. >> his ex-wife wants to use this stalking case against her ex-husband to get the children to come with her suggesting it's too dangerous. doesn't that victimize him twice? >> it does. one is the one you mentioned. first i'm victimize because i have a stalker. >> i didn't have for this. >> the second way is now the court is going to hold that against me such as they will take the children away. that's also a third. how many celebrities have stalkers and how many celebrities have children. now, if you have a child and a stalker, the court should intervene and take your children away from you. that's why i don't think it will play so big in a court

proceedings. the court will look at' at othe things. the ex has made allegations in a number of ways. talking about drug use and infi t infideli infidelity. to use this to victimize him twi twice, don't think it's going to happen. >> although as a mom, i would be worried if there was somebody knocking down the door where my children were staying. abc news had another 9191 call in which usher uses the words, delusional to describe this woman. have a listen. >> i have to children in this home and three adults in the house. this young lady apparently is a bit delusional. >> all right. here is why i want to bring that up because he also got a restraining order in which he

did say the words she's dangerous to my family. it's on record, he believes that that woman, that alleged stalker is dangerous. >> and poses a danger to not only him. >> does that pose a danger to his custody case in. >> it could potentially, but i think ultimately, he had body guards. this was a lapse in security. the woman should not have made it that far. i doubt it will happen again. they will be on heightened alert. the judge wants to make sure the children are safe and if they are not, you'll take court action to make sure they are. i don't think this will play so huge to say the children are this danger as a result of stalker and as a result, give me your kids. the stalker is just infatuated with him. there hasn't been threats or allegations that she wants to kill him other than to say she's his wife and wants him and married to him. she is a bit delusional in that regard but i don't think the

judge will hold him accountable for that. >> well let's hope the parade of horribles doesn't happen because other celebrities in that boat with children might be more resistent in going for the restraining order to put i'm worried about my kids. >> right. that puts them in danger, and we don't want that effect. >> as usual, awesome. in the fight over voters in the swing state, there's some big time auto towns that have benefitted from president obama's bailout of the industry. some of the those voters are leaning towards mitt romney who side let detroit go bankrupt so find out what the thinking is here. -345-2550 let's talk about fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 there are atm fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 account service fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and the most dreaded fees of all, hidden fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, you won't pay fees on top of fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no monthly account service fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no hidden fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and we rebate every atm fee.

tdd# 1-800-345-2550 so talk to chuck tdd# 1-800-345-2550 because when it comes to talking, there is no fee. energy is being produced to power our lives. while energy development comes with some risk, north america's natural gas producers are committed to safely and responsibly providing generations of cleaner-burning energy for our country, drilling thousands of feet below fresh water sources within self-contained well systems. and, using state-of-the-art monitoring technologies, rigorous practices help ensure our operations are safe and clean for our communities and the environment. we're america's natural gas. legalzoom has an easy and affordable option. you get quality services on your terms, with total customer support, backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee. so go to legalzoom.com today and see for yourself.

this week cnn is hitting the road for a special series. poppy harlow toured driving from wisconsin to indiana to michigan and ohio. what a road trip. she wanted to take the pulse of voters in the key auto towns. all four states went for obama in 2008. however, indiana is leaning towards mitt romney. poppy visited cocoa moe, a town that relies heavy on auto industry for jobs. it didn't seem as though the love is continuing. have a look. >> reporter: when we rolled into kokomo, indiana it was 93

degrees, a few clouds in the sky. >> our three largest employers are automotive companies. >> reporter: we came to meet cliff pitcher and wayne beats at their neighborhood bar. two friends whose blue collar career follow similar paths. >> do you agree over the next president? >> no. i'm all obama. >> i'm leaning toward mitt romney. >> why obama? >> because i have a job today. >> reporter: he credits the auto bailout which romney opposed. folks here call kokomo little detroit. >> if it wasn't for obama, i would not have a pension. i would not have insurance. >> reporter: despite that, dwayne doesn't think he deserves another four years. >> we're not much better off than we were three and a half years ago. >> you cashed a check.

>> i'm thankful for that. >> i'm better off. >> reporter: kokomo's unemployment topped 20% in 2009 when gm and visit. why do you think that romney would be better for the u.s. economy right now? >> i think he's got jobs. >> romney might be able to create jobs, but they're going to pay $7 or $8 an hour. and, you know, honestly and truly, i can't support my family on $7 or $8 with no benefits. >> reporter: we asked the two to make their best argument to each other. >> i have a job. you have a job. we both have insurance. we can still raise our families. and no one in this town is gone. >> we still have a long road ahead of us, but i feel romney

with his background experience in business will turn this economy around. >> reporter: the debate is going all over indiana. this is a fascinating state politically. it voted for obama in 2008, electing a democrat as president for the first time since lbj. but right now the state is leaning towards romney. in kokomo, you can really see the politics play out in the stories of auto body shops on opposite sides of town. allen wilson is on the south side. he credits obama. >> got three more employees than we used to have. our business has doubled. >> reporter: how's business? >> slow. it's very slow. >> reporter: rick is on the north side. >> i am the guy in the middle that pays the taxes. it's actually crippled me. >> reporter: you're ready for a change it sounds like. >> it's going to happen. >> reporter: you're so confident. >> oh, yes. there are so many people around here -- i understand the east coast and west coast probably are pro-obama.

that's fine. but the people in the midwest had enough. i mean, we've been stepped on. we've paid enough bills. >> reporter: as for cliff and dewayne, they'll be voting. >> you can check my record. >> reporter: again this year, one of them is going to lose. >> cnn's poppy harlow for us. so it is a holiday, right? how many times have you checked your blackberry or your e-mail? how many times have you checked your second blackberry and second e-mail account? apparently more americans have decided, huh-uh, i'm unplugging on vacation. but in this day and age, is that really possible? can you, should you? why aren't we? my next guest has some interesting advice for you coming up. ♪ anything 'cause you mean everything to me ♪ ♪ i'd know that i'd go anywhere ♪ ♪ for your smile ♪ anywhere ♪ yes, i'd do anything

♪ anything for you ♪ ♪ anything for you would you mind if to be i go ahead of you?omer. instead we had someone go ahead of him and win fifty thousand dollars. congratulations you are our one millionth customer. people don't like to miss out on money that should have been theirs. that's why at ally we have the raise your rate 2-year cd.

you can get a one-time rate increase if our two-year rate goes up. if your bank makes you miss out, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. mine was earned off vietnam in 1968. over the south pacific in 1943. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection, and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve.

just minutes away now from the top of the hour, which means wolf blitzer is coming up. of course it means wolf blitzer is coming up. he does not take a vacation even on a holiday. hello, sir. >> it's july 4th. happy july 4th to ashley. >> thank you. >> happy july 4th to all of our viewers. i hope everyone's enjoying. i assume, ashley, a lot of folks are outside, they're going to come inside where there's air-conditioning at least power to be watching "the situation room." >> two hours ago they started. >> they're going to have a good time inside today watching all the important news. we're going through what mitt romney is now saying on this july 4th as far as the health care law's concerned, the mandate, is it a tax, not a tax?

donna brazile is here. and then we're going to make a turn later in the hour to pakistan. there's been a dramatic development as you know 24 hours ago the u.s. and pakistan reached a deal that will allow these convoys of trucks to bring supplies to u.s. and nato troops in afghanistan. what was the cost? what was the price? the pakistani ambassador to the united states is in a slum about right now in pakistan. she's going to be joining us. we're talking about all of these dramatic developments. >> that's great. awesome. that sounds terrific. thank you, wolf. look forward to it. it is turning out that more and more business leaders are getting real serious about having some real fun. a new survey found that 51% of chief financial officers say they do not check-in with the office at all while on vacation. and that is up from 26% in a

2010 poll. and 21% in a 2005 poll. that's why rachel squire is here. she's the founder of the website change the ratio. the survey is fascinating. i got to ask you, how difficult is it to actually unplug? i don't just mean checking in with the office. i mean putting down your electronics and say enough is enough, it's family time. >> well, those are two different things. i question the survey's language because checking in with the office is different than letting the office be able to check-in with you, which you can with your iphone or blackberry safely in your pocket. i think the actual unplugging is very difficult for people who lead busy lives, used to being availab available, around and want to know what's going on at every moment of the day. which now we're getting pretty used to. >> these devices aren't just blackberries for work. they are also blackberries for personal e-mail accounts, they are our telephones, they're our

cameras, our twitter account. they're almost just about everything we do. so how is it you're supposed to use your phone on vacation but don't look at the e-mail account? >> i don't understand who's making those rules that if you're using your phone, that you can't check your e-mail. a lot of people actually feel much less stressed out if they have you know, their twitter, their e-mail. if they want to scroll through instagram, let them. if they need that quick dopamine hit, let them. >> i'm glad you said that. i wanted to do this interview with you today because i feel as though i'm anxious and it's been an hour and i haven't cleared the backlog, the 400 or so e-mails me and my friends get back here. >> look what business you're in. that has something to do with it as well. if you're business is breaking news or keeping up to date with what's going on, you're going to want to keep that blackberry or iphone with you. it will not feel like a vacation

if you're freaking about what you're missing. a lot of the executive surveys i'm sure and more traditional companies where there are layers and layers and layers of people taking responsibility beneath them. so in that case -- >> i'm so frustrated by this. i thought that -- i'm reading all this research that a digital detox is really good for you. >> i've done it. >> it's good for your mental health, if you have depression. and i just keep wondering, is there like a withdrawal period of time if i go on vacation and just let myself be anxious for at least a day or so, will it go away and will i relax? >> i think they say three days. you get sort of used to it. i am not a psychologist. i may be an enabler, but i'm not a psychologist. i think you do get used toyota. for me, personally, i'm a lot less anxious if i have my device with me. then i can enjoy a dinner, hang out with my family, friends, watching a movie. i